Friday, April 19, 2013

The injury toll rose to 87 in the clashes that erupted on Friday between pro- and anti-Islamists in Egypt's capital Cairo and other governorates across the country, a Healthy Ministry official told Xinhua.

"Some 82 were injured in the clashes in Cairo, while another four in Alexandria and one more in Daqahliya," Health Ministry's spokesman Yahya Moussa told Xinhua, noting that among them 69 have been discharged by hospitals while the rest is still receiving treatment.

Earlier in the day, thousands of Egyptian Islamists, the main supporters of President Mohamed Morsi, gathered outside the Supreme Courthouse in Cairo to protest against what they described as "corrupt judiciary," due to the recent acquittals of ex- officials affiliated to former President Hosni Mubarak as well as the "slow-pace" trial of Mubarak.

Police are warning against the dangers of a drug called PMA following three deaths in Macclesfield.

It comes as detectives are investigating the deaths of Rachel Clayton, 34, and Emma Speed, 30, found dead at a house on Crompton Road on April 7. Toxicology results revealed evidence of PMA – described as an Ecstasy-like drug – found in their systems, which could have killed them.

PMA was also found in the system of a 34-year-old man who was found dead in a caravan on Batemill Close, Macclesfield in February.

The U.S. government on Friday expressed concern about increasing crackdowns on civil liberties around the world, from Russia to Egypt and China, saying these and other countries were shrinking the space in which independent political and other activists can operate.

In its annual survey of human rights around the world, the State Department singled out Myanmar for praise for the second year in a row, in recognition of political and economic reforms put in place since that country's military stepped aside and a quasi-civilian government was installed in 2011.

"Because of steps toward democratic reform and stronger human rights protections, a country that had been isolated for years is now making progress," Secretary of State John Kerry said of Myanmar as the human rights report was released.

The FBI in 2011 interviewed the elder of the two brothers who are suspects in Monday's deadly Boston Marathon bombings, acting at the request of an unidentified foreign government, a U.S. law enforcement source said on Friday.

The FBI's dealings with Tamerlan Tsarnaev - who died overnight in a shootout with police - did not produce any "derogatory" information, and the matter was put "to bed," said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The revelation is the first indication that Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his younger brother, Dzhokhar, were known to U.S. security officials prior to Monday's bombings, U.S. authorities said.

Former FBI special agent Donald Borelli said Monday that potential suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing might not be read their Miranda rights prior to questioning by law enforcement.

“It will be an FBI led investigation… However, that is not to say that intelligence collection isn’t a big part of this, and the trick is to find that delicate balance,” he told MSNBC host Chris Hayes near the end of an interview. “So, for example, if there is information to be collected by intelligence means, whether it’s a sensitive source, domestic, overseas, we’re going to pursue that, every angle of that. If it means that somebody’s in custody, and the decision is made that we to want interview this person without reading Miranda rights because right no–”

“You’re saying in foreign custody?” Hayes interrupted.

“Well, even in U.S. custody I think there are situations now where a lot of people would say, ‘Look, you don’t need to read them Miranda rights right away.’ If a very strong suspect is picked up, or someone who could provide very significant information, I think that decision could be discussed.”

INTERPOL has issued an international security alert, or Orange Notice, detailing the features of the improvised explosive devices used in the Boston marathon bombings to assist law enforcement across its 190 member countries detect any similarly configured bombs.

The INTERPOL Orange Notice, requested by the US authorities, contains photographs of the devices and identifying information including the fingerprints of the two suspects, 19-year-old Dzhokar Tsarnaev, currently being sought by authorities in the US, and his brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev, aged 26, who died after a shoot-out with police in Boston in the early hours of Friday.

A public version of the Orange Notice – with confidential police information removed – is also being made available by the world police body.

There has been much discussion over the two individuals fitted with earpieces and military-esque gear spotted at the Boston Marathon, but as it turns out they may likely be employees of the Blackwater-style private military/security firm Craft International.

The two can be seen in the photo below with their hands up to their ears in what is later (second photo) confirmed to be a a wired communications device. Originally, it was thought that these men were likely some sort of military or special operations — specifically SEAL team members as indicated by an emblem on one of their black hats. After doing some digging, however, it becomes much more likely that these men are employees of Craft International — a private military/security firm similar in nature to Blackwater (Xe).

A major US air show has canceled plans to stage a re-enactment of the World War II atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima following complaints that it was 'inappropriate.'

Dayton Air Show in Ohio has featured a re-enactment of the bombing of the Japanese city - in August 1945 - for more than 30 years.

Spokeswoman Brenda Kerfoot said a planned 'Great Wall of Fire' pyrotechnic show will still go ahead - but will not be used to represent the bombing after critics said it was inappropriate for a family event.

Britain's credit rating has been downgraded this evening by a leading international ratings agency.

Fitch Ratings trimmed the rating to AA-plus from AAA, blaming a weaker economic and fiscal outlook.

It is the second international agency to strip the country of its top-notch credit rating this year. It means borrowing costs for households and businesses as well as the government could be increased.

Chechnya's Russian-backed president has hit out at America for killing one of the suspected Boston Marathon bombers and blamed the US for moulding them into terrorists.

Chechen-born Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died from gunshot wounds and possible blast injuries after a fierce gun battle rocked the Watertown area of Boston hours after a police officer was shot dead at the nearby MIT campus.

His 19-year-old brother, Dzhokha, fled the shoot out and is on the run, reportedly having strapped explosives to his body.

But President Ramzan Kadyrov, a former Chechen rebel himself, told US authorities that 'any attempt to draw a connection' between Chechnya and the brothers was 'futile'.

In a Russian-language statement on Instagram, he added: 'They were raised in the United States, and their attitudes and beliefs were formed there.

A bird flu that has never before been a problem for humans has infected more than 80 people in China, killing 17 of them, and is raising concerns among infectious disease experts worldwide.

The first human case was identified three weeks ago, and the rapid compilation of human cases since then has public health officials in China and scientists from around the world scrambling to identify the source of the infection and prevent further spread.

So far, the strain identified as H7N9 does not appear to pass easily between humans. Human-to-human transmission is a critical sign that a virus could reach pandemic levels, such as what occurred with the H1N1 "swine flu" that quickly spread around the world in 2009.

Influenza specialists from around the world are converging on China to help authorities identify how people are catching the new H7N9 bird flu strain after the number of reported cases there doubled in the past week.

China recorded its 88th H7N9 infection yesterday. Seventeen of the cases have been fatal and “several” patients are in critical condition, according to the World Health Organization.

U.S. hospitals are being urged to head off a spread of the new H7N9 avian influenza by looking out for people exhibiting flu-like symptoms who have traveled to China or had contact with someone who has the illness.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention held a conference call with health-care professionals yesterday to review procedures for treating bird-flu patients and controlling infections, Erin Burns, an agency spokeswoman, said in an e- mail. The Atlanta-based agency today issued interim guidance on the use of antiviral agents to treat H7N9 infections.

Issuing the guidance and holding the clinician calls “would be considered routine preparedness measures for an outbreak with pandemic potential,” Burns said.

China has recorded 92 human infections of the H7N9 strain of bird flu, with 17 of the cases fatal, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from national and provincial governments and the World Health Organization.

Much of Boston's transportation system followed the rest of the city into lockdown mode Friday as authorities hunted for one of the suspects in this week's deadly marathon bombings.

All modes of transit operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority -- including rail, subway, buses and ferries -- were halted Friday at the request of the police, according to Joe Pesaturo, an MBTA spokesman. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation cautioned travelers via Twitter not to wait at stations or bus stops.

Serbia and its former province of Kosovo struck an historic deal on Friday to settle their fraught relations, opening the door to European Union membership talks for Belgrade in a milestone for the region's recovery from the collapse of Yugoslavia.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the prime ministers of both sides had initialed an agreement during talks in Brussels, capping six months of delicate negotiations after over a decade of deep animosity since Kosovo broke away in war.

"It's very important that now what we are seeing is a step away from the past and for both of them a step closer to Europe," Ashton told reporters.

The suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings are ethnic Chechen brothers who spent much of their lives away from the breakaway Russian republic and showed few outward signs of radicalism in the United States.

Much is still unknown about Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, named by a national security official as suspects in the twin bombings that killed three people and wounded 176 on Monday.

Tamerlan, 26, a one-time Golden Gloves amateur boxer, was killed in a shootout late on Thursday. Dzhokhar, 19, described as a low-key student in high school, was the target of a massive manhunt on Friday.

France has opened a judicial investigation into allegations that former President Nicolas Sarkozy's 2007 election bid won illicit funds from late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, the public prosecutor's office said on Friday.

The inquiry adds to the legal issues plaguing Sarkozy, who some see making a comeback bid in 2017 after losing office last year - a defeat which cost him the immunity from prosecution he enjoyed during five years as head of state.

An official at the prosecutor's office said an inquiry had been opened after allegations made by a Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine, himself under investigation in a separate affair of arms sales to Pakistan in the 1990s.

A Texas law enforcement official says 12 bodies have been recovered following a massive explosion that levelled a fertilizer plant.

Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Jason Reyes said Friday that about 200 people were injured in the explosion at facility Wednesday night in the small farming community of West, about 32 kilometres north of Waco.

Search and rescue crews have been sifting through the still-smouldering remains for survivors. That work continues. The blast crumpled dozens of homes, an apartment building, a school and a nursing home.

Authorities say there's no indication that the blast was anything other than an industrial accident sparked by a fire. The company has been cited for apparently minor safety and permitting violations over the past decade.

The entire city of Boston is on lockdown as authorities warn that residents should lock their doors and remain inside as they continue the manhunt for the surviving suspect from the marathon bombing.

The city is being controlled by SWAT teams and an army of police as they try to keep everyone indoors by shutting down the entire public transportation system, closing schools and ordering businesses to remain closed for the day.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway and commuter rail system is shut down until further notice as officials try to keep citizens off the streets following the fatal shoot out in Watertown early Friday morning that lead to the death of the first suspect.

Amtrak services between Boston and Providence have been suspended, keeping people- including 19-year-old suspect Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev- from leaving the city.

One of the Boston bombing suspects has been killed, left, and his 19-year-old brother, right, is today on the run and said to be 'armed and dangerous' after a dramatic firefight in the suburbs of the city. Police were today making desperate house to searches in Watertown, Boston, pictured centre, for Dzokhar Tsarnaev, dubbed 'Suspect 2', after a night of terror that left one policeman dead and another critically injured. In a night of chaos, the two Chechen brothers believed to be behind the Boston marathon bombing are said to have stolen a car and thrown bombs and traded gunfire with police chasing them. One officer was killed and another wounded. Boston was in lockdown with all mass transit shut and residents warned to stay inside.